[MR] Lerwick Up Helly Aa With Female Participation

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots . . . er . . . Vikings:

Today's BBC News has a brief feature on the revived Up Helly Aa, a night of
parades, drinking, Viking "Jarl Squads" in elaborate costumes, more
drinking, Viking ship burning, and all night parties with . . . you guessed
it . . . still more drinking, followed by the mother of all hangovers the
next day. Up Helly Aa is celebrated in many towns throughout  the Shetland
Islands, with the largest in Lerwick. And after years of agitation, women
and girls were allowed full participation at Lerwick, the festival's last
major bastion of all-male privilege.

For a brief video and some great photos, see
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64464271 .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆